San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza felt like Israel over the weekend, and it wasn’t just the oppressive heat, preponderance of automobile horns and an argument to be had on every corner. Actually, it had more to do with the sea of white and blue Israeli flags fluttering in the occasional gusts of wind that brought relief to their overheated owners.
When the wind didn’t wave those Israeli flags, the owners shifted to manual, brandishing them in support of a bevy of speakers contending Israel has been forced into a war after previous concessions were rewarded with kidnappings and rocket attacks, and is fighting the same battle on global terror as the United States.
“We gave them a chance,” said Deputy Consul General Omer Caspi of terrorist organizations in both Lebanon and Gaza, “but today we say enough is enough.”
Other speakers made similarly forceful points at the Sunday, July 23 noontime rally, and were duly rewarded by a crowd j. estimates at 1,500 or more. Among the speakers:
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who pointed out San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the crowd and said the United States will stand by Israel in its hour of need just as Israel supported America following 9/11. She added: “Let there be no doubt, Israel was subjected to unprovoked, unjustified attacks on its north and south borders.”
• Noni Darwish of Arabs for Israel, who shouted that Arab nations “need to focus on building Arab society instead of destroying Israel. Arab children don’t need hatred; they need hope. They don’t need jihad; they need jobs.”
• Jonathan Wornick, an East Bay federation board member, who urged members of the crowd to write to their congressperson and congratulate him or her for supporting Israel in a recent bill — or, if that congressperson is Barbara Lee or Pete Stark, question why they didn’t.
In reality, however, it’s hard to imagine that a majority of the large crowd heard every last word. Once one wandered more than 50 feet away from the stage, amplified speech became an indiscernible muddle drowned out by conversations in English, Hebrew and Russian. Under a broiling, noontime sun, attendees naturally drew away from the stage and waited in the shade, quite literally cooling their heels.
Entrepreneurial members of the crowd sold water and iced sweets along with pro-Israel apparel. Ubiquitous Chabad rabbis solicited the crowd looking for a few good men to lay tefillin. Eventgoers knew when to cheer in the same way an absent-minded baseball fan is prompted by the rest of the crowd. The important thing, in their minds, seemed to be that they were pro-Israel and they were there.
Since the rally’s sponsoring organizations — among them the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Community Federations of both San Francisco and the Greater East Bay — reserved Justin Herman Plaza, pro-Palestinian demonstrators were persona non grata. A few interlopers were quickly escorted out by some of the roughly 100 uniformed San Francisco police on site.
The Market Street walkway was flanked on both sides by police barricades, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters trading slogans — and barbs — over the heads of bemused and more than a little spooked passers-by, strolling unwittingly through a war of words on their way from Market Street to a cup of coffee and a bushel of organic vegetables at the Ferry Building.
Around 70 pro-Palestinians made their presence felt. Some demonstrated silently, waving signs decrying the mounting death toll in Lebanon. Yet a number of young Arab protesters were anything but quiet, showering pro-Israel attendees with insults, Hitlerian salutes and chants such as “Red, red, green, white, we support Hezbollah’s fight.”
Members of the print and television media bolted to record the pontifications of one such man who shouted and gesticulated with the ardor of Don King on fight night about how tired he was of those who forcefully opposed the occupations of Palestine and Iraq being labeled terrorists. Journalists scribbled the name he gave them in their notebooks: Ibin Falestine, or, in Arabic, “Son of Palestine” (an incredibly apropos name, if it’s real).
The large numbers of police prevented confrontations from escalating beyond verbal sparring. A group of half a dozen kaffiyeh-wearing, Palestinian flag-waving teens was booted from Justin Herman Plaza and cited, and at least one young pro-Palestinian man was detained. A scuffle broke out between a pro-Israel demonstrator and a pro-Palestinian demonstrator on the fringe of the plaza; the pro-Israel man was pulled back by companions when he swiped at his opponent, who shouted back “You f—king Jews are hostile, man!”
Such confrontations were quickly halted by red-capped event organizers, who sought to stem pro-Israel supporters from engaging in diatribes with counter-demonstrators. Several heated conversations did take place in the “Checkpoint Charlie” spot on the walkway. But no minds were changed.
The pro-Palestinians continued to chant their slogans, while the pro-Israel demonstrators walked away shaking their heads and loudly muttering, “Idiots, they’re idiots.”